China Huaneng
Group, one of the country's largest electric power providers,
together with China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corp.
(CNEC) and Tsinghua
University, signed an investment agreement on Thursday in
Beijing for the construction of a high-temperature, gas-cooled
nuclear reactor for power generation.
This marks a critical step toward the commercialization of this
type of reactor, said Li Xiaopeng, Huaneng Group's president and
chairman of the board. The 200,000-kilowatt generator is expected
to go on line by the end of 2010.
Huaneng will handle 50 percent of the total investment, with
CNEC taking 35 percent and Tsinghua responsible for 5 percent. The
remaining 10 percent will go to new investors with the consent of
the three partners.
However, the total amount of investment in the reactor is
currently unknown, as construction is still in an experimental
period, said project sources.
Safety is a primary feature of the state-of-the-art,
high-temperature and gas-cooled nuclear power generation
technology, according to a researcher in nuclear power from
Tsinghua University. China holds full property rights to the
technology being employed.
Commercial application of this technology is conducive to the
technological upgrading of China's power generation sector, the
source said.
An official from CNEC concurred. "The agreement accords with
China's medium- and long-term strategies of vigorously developing
the country's nuclear power and energy industry in order to
optimize the electric power industry's structure."
Currently, China relies heavily on coal for power generation, an
imbalance that may hinder the country's sustainable economic
development according to industry experts.
"The cooperation will undoubtedly enhance China's technological
industrialization and bolster the growth of the country's electric
power industry and national economy," said an analyst with CITIC
Research Institute.
(China Daily December 17, 2004)